This is a nicely packaged 3 disc set spotlighting Ko Ohtani's wonderful work on
the new Gamera series. The double jewel box comes in a jet black cardboard
slipbox with a full color 32 page booklet and each CD emblazoned with a black
and white image of a the foe from each film.

The first CD is dedicated completely to GAMERA: GUARDIAN OF THE UNIVERSE. Unlike
the first soundtrack release, the new collection features 13 unreleased cues.
mostly score tracks that were cut and a few alternate takes. Bonus tracks
include a suite of sound effects and the theatrical trailer audio in much the
same fashion as the Toho Futureland series. One of the biggest differences
between this release and the original is the sound quality. The spatial ambience
of the orchestra is broader and you can hear more instrumentation than ever
before. Gamera's roar has been removed from the tail of “To the Sea” and the end
title song has also been remixed with a nice new opening movement (the original
version does not appear, though). Overall, a stunning audio treat.

The second CD is GAMERA 2: THE ADVENT OF LEGION. This is a bit of an oddity.
There are no new score tracks here and one cue, “Countdown 1,” which wasn't used
in the final film, but was on the original soundtrack, has been removed to the
end. Of course, a sound effects suite and trailer audio follows, but the CD
ends oddly with the single versions of the original Gamera songs from the first
film series. Some of the cues sound like they have a little more spatial
enhancement, but it's not as noticeable as the first CD.

GAMERA 3: THE AWAKENING OF IRYAS round off the set with exactly the same running
order as the album released last year. Funny thing about this score, I was
disappointed when I first heard it, but after seeing the film, it's become a
favorite with its dark, moody motifs. Besides the sound effects and trailer
audio, the bonus section includes the original score cues for the trailer and
the single version of “Tell Me Once Again”.

If you have the original three soundtrack CDs, there's not much here to really
demand this set, other than the sound quality of the first score. However, I
love these soundtracks and am something of a completest. Besides, the sound
effects are always fun. If you don't have a complete set, this is a bargain for
the price CDJapan was offering (and we got ours within a week from ordering!).